After two years since Perch 2 was launched – the first beta release of Perch and Runway 3 was sent to registered developers for their feedback. Let’s see what’s been revealed so far:
Better distinction between Perch and Perch Runway.
There is more emphasis placed on differentiating Perch from Perch Runway. Both in terms of capabilities, features and scalability.
Perch is meant to be a quick “drop in” CMS for simple sites. Perch Runway is going to be a dedicated solution for larger content-based sites.
Improved UI (User Interface)
Perch got some uplift! Not that it looked bad however it’s always a little tricky to squeeze in all the options, links and menus to make it robust and simple to use at the same time.
Apart from modern and fresh look & feel the general interface is now 100% responsive. What it means – it’s going to be much easier to use Perch on mobile devices.
Custom Admin Menu
We are now able to customise admin menus within the Control Panel to expose the most used functionality for our clients and making less prominent things they don’t often need to use.
It’s a great way for developers to further tailor the CMS experience for our clients.
Content filtering and sorting
It’s going to be much easier to find things in Perch. More advanced abilities to filter and sort large amounts of content in the Control Panel will be shipping in Perch Runway.
How to upgrade and what does it cost?
Although upgrades from Perch 2 to Perch 3 will be free there is always a little risk when upgrading software.
In terms of technically upgrading from Perch 2 to Perch 3 that should be as seamless as regular Perch 2 updates. There are no breaking changes to be aware of unless you have custom add-ons installed. In these cases we may have to take some extra care to migrate it smoothly.
When it’s going to be ready?
According to all the gossip (Tweets) it should be out anytime now so fingers crossed for Rachel and Drew. We are all looking forward to it!
If you need any help with upgrading your Perch 2.0 website, you know where to find me!
Cheers,
Damian
